Chapter 3
THREE
Allie held Nolan’s little explorer hat. They were on the right track, thank God. But they were far off the trail. Her eyes stung from the growing haze in the air as she strained to see more signs of them.
Why would the boys have left the trail? And who’d fallen and slid so far? It looked like blood on the hat. Her chest squeezed.
Dakota pointed at the hat. “Are you sure that’s?—”
“Nolan, the younger brother, was wearing this when he came by my campsite this morning.”
The boys were out here somewhere. Was it just her, or was it getting harder to breathe?
Without warning, memories battered inside her head. A cold sterile room. Blinding lights glaring down at her.
Dakota’s hand rested on her shoulder. She shook off the memories and looked at him.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
He kept his hand on her another moment. She tried not to hate herself for finding comfort in it. She hadn’t been lying when she’d said she knew Dakota was a hero. Thanks to his nephews sharing all their “Uncle Kota stories,” she knew he’d gone above and beyond when he worked SWAT. He’d put his life on the line for the sake of others, and Will was so proud of him. No wonder she’d felt such an immediate connection with him last year.
But the boys.
“I wonder what they were doing to lose the hat,” she said. A hat she should mark. She opened the GPS hiking app on her phone and dropped a pin.
“Not sure. But it looks like one of them, or both of them, slid quite a ways down this incline. I’m going to call this in.”
While he talked to his crew on the radio, she knelt by Scout.
“Good job, boy. You’re on the right trail.” She gave him a little scratch on his chin and offered him more water.
See. She showed him affection. They could…bond.
“We can’t stop long. That fire is coming closer. I can hear it now.” Dakota turned a slow three hundred sixty degrees.
Sure enough, a dull roaring could be heard through the trees. Allie took a swig of water to wash out the metallic taste of fear, still lingering in her mouth. She quickly finished watering Scout and let him smell the hat. “Find, Scout!”
He took off, bounded over branches and tree roots scattered on the forest floor. Allie and Dakota jogged behind, weaving around thick trunks, skirting the rock outcroppings. There wasn’t breath for much conversation now that Scout had the boys’ scent. The downward slope made it an easier run but also harder to keep balance. Dakota was nimble enough, even with the heavy pack he carried.
She glanced at him. His red hair peeking out from his helmet stood out among all the green and brown surrounding them. His face was focused, taut. She could easily picture him in his SWAT tactical gear from a picture Will and Dani had displayed with all their family photos. He had probably made a good cop—one who cared about protecting innocents.
His admission about his actions when they met still echoed in her mind.
I’m trying to build a new life here.
I’m starting over. So maybe you could help me out. Let me start over with you too.
Funny how those simple words and his direct gaze bored straight through her defenses.
He wasn’t the only one who wanted to rebuild his life.
Who was she to judge? If he knew—if anyone knew…
Stop . Thankfully, they didn’t.
She shut down the mental vault inside. It had been too easy to hide because there had been no witnesses. Not when she’d gone to college so far away from home, not knowing anyone. And she hadn’t kept up with anyone from that time either. Now she had a job to do in the present. Like Dakota. They both had something to prove.
So maybe she would cut him some slack for the day they met. For the outburst she’d witnessed at the SAR Training Center. For the way he’d left without even saying goodbye.
He had been nothing but a gentleman to her on that drive. A wounded hero, according to Will. She’d only agreed to drive Dakota because she’d thought she’d never see him again. But here he was. Running down a mountain, helping her find two lost boys.
He couldn’t be all bad.
Truth was, she didn’t think he was bad in the first place. And that was the problem. She could all too easily see the good in him.
Dakota might be a good guy.
But she wouldn’t be good for him.
Scout stopped. He sniffed again in a zigzag pattern until he found the scent cone swinging off to the right. He barked as they approached a cave hidden in the side of the slope.
“Scout, stay.” Allie called into the darkness, “Ethan? Nolan? It’s Allie.”
She walked into the pitch black until she could hear whispers. “Remember me from this morning?”
“Allie?” A trembling voice echoed off the rock wall.
The cave narrowed enough that Allie could touch both sides of it, but the farther she walked in, the more the shadows took over. She called for Scout to join her. Thankfully, this time he came immediately and stuck by her.
“Yeah, it’s me. I have Scout with me. And a friend. His name is Dakota. He’s a firefighter.” Little boys loved hero firemen, right?
She took a few steps before a swath of light cut through the black and lit her path. There, in the beam of Dakota’s flashlight, the brothers sat huddled together against a stone, the older one holding the younger. Their faces were covered in dirt, with streaks from tears or sweat—probably both. Scout trotted over and barked. He licked Nolan’s cheek.
“Good boy, Scout.” Seeing the boys safe and relatively unharmed loosened her tight lungs. She needed to reward Scout for his hard work. But first she needed to make sure the boys were okay with Dakota.
“You guys sure scared us. Are you all right?” She approached them one tiny step at a time.
Ethan nodded and wiped his cheeks. “You found us. I told Nolan you could. That you were a nice lady and Scout would remember us.”
“You were right. Scout found you.” She crouched, assessing the brothers. “But we need to get you back. Your mom and dad are worried.”
“He’s not my dad!”
Allie froze. The last vestiges of fear in Ethan’s eyes had seemed to morph to fury.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” She winced. “Your mom, though, is really scared. We should get you back?—”
But Ethan vehemently shook his head. “No. We can stay here. I have enough food. We’re fine.” He sniffed and lifted a strong chin in a surprising show of defiance. “I’m not going back.”
Nolan cried though. His whole body shuddered. “I don’t wanna see the bad man again. He’ll kill us.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What bad man?” Dakota came closer to the boys.
Ethan stood quickly and moved in front of his brother. He held his own wrist, as though he might’ve injured it. “Who are you?”
“That’s my friend Dakota. He came to help me find you. He’s a firefighter.”
Dakota held out a hand and gave the boys a friendly smile. It was a nice smile. Apparently Nolan thought so too. He jumped into Dakota’s arms and wrapped his own chubby ones around Dakota’s neck.
“Nolan!” Ethan yelled. “He’s a stranger.”
“It’s okay, Ethan. Firemans are safe. And he’s Allie’s friend. Scout likes him too.” Nolan gave his brother a wobbly grin.
Scout. Right. Allie pulled out Scout’s absolute favorite toy, a now-stinky tugging rope. “Scout did such a good job finding you guys. I’m going to play with him now. Want to see?”
She dangled the rope in front of the Lab. Scout jumped and grabbed it with his mouth. He pulled, letting out a playful growl. Allie held tight. “Good boy!”
Both boys’ eyes lit. Ethan stood a little straighter. Even Dakota seemed to soften, watching Scout play.
She held the toy out for Ethan to hold. “Wanna give it a try?” Maybe if he felt a little more in control of the situation, a little safer with them, she could convince them to leave. They still didn’t have a lot of time.
Ethan held the rope with one hand. Scout tugged and immediately got the rope away from the boy.
“Try holding the rope with both hands.” Allie snagged it from Scout and handed it back to Ethan.
“I can’t. I hurt my hand.”
Dakota approached, still holding Nolan in one arm. “Can I see? I took classes on first aid. I might even have a bandage we can use.”
Ethan hesitated but eventually nodded. “Look over Nolan’s leg first. He cut it when we fell.”
Allie continued Scout’s tug-of-war while she watched Dakota examine the boys.
Dakota glanced up. “I think Scout needs a new tugging rope. That one looks well-loved.”
“That’s for a reason. This toy is special. I only use this rope to reward Scout when he’s done his job.”
He grinned down at Nolan. “I think he did his job. He found you guys. I say give him all the stinky ropes he wants.”
Nolan giggled.
Allie couldn’t help but smile. “He did do a great job.”
“So, do you only play with him or pet him as a reward?” Dakota said it with a sincere look on his face, a simple question. But accusation still burned within her.
“I…no. I’m still learning how to interact with Scout. It hasn’t been as easy for me as it was with Dixie.”
“I’m sure it’s hard after losing her so suddenly. Especially when you were so close to her.” There was no judgment in his tone, just simple understanding. Empathy.
Maybe she had been holding back with Scout. Belle had mentioned it too. She needed to change that. She sat down and really sank her fingers deep into his fur, massaging his flanks. “Good boy,” she murmured into his floppy ear while they watched the others. Scout lay by her and rested his head on her lap.
Dakota pulled out a kit from his pack. Nolan winced when he poured water over a deep cut on his lower leg, but he didn’t cry out.
“You cut this one good, little man. But not as good as me.” Dakota lifted the leg of his Nomex pants and showed them a long, jagged scar that wrapped around his calf.
The boys gaped as if in awe. “What did you do?” Nolan asked.
“I fell off my bike. It took thirty-two stitches to get me back together.” He puffed out his chest as if it were something to be proud of.
“Will I need stitches?” Nolan asked.
“You might. But if you do, you won’t need thirty of them. I’ll bandage it up for now to keep it clean and see what the doctor says when we get back. Deal?”
“Okay.”
Dakota gently applied the gauze and taped it around Nolan’s leg. “Now, let’s look at your hand, Ethan. Where does it hurt?”
Ethan kept as much distance as he could but allowed Dakota to check his injury. He was definitely more cautious. And the way he’d become so angry when she’d mistakenly called Ray his dad made her wonder.
She nodded at Dakota, gesturing to the side of the cave.
“Hold your arm against your chest, just like this, while Allie helps me find something in my pack,” he told Ethan. Stepping around the boy, he dropped his pack at Allie’s feet.
“Do you think Ray is the ‘bad man’ they’re scared of?” she whispered. “Jen definitely fit the mark of a woman in an abusive relationship.”
“I wondered that too. It would explain her skittishness. And why Ethan doesn’t want to go back.”
“Yeah, I mean, she was obviously worried about the boys, but she cowered when Ray put his arm around her earlier. If that is the case, no wonder Ethan was slow in trusting you to look at his arm.”
“Can’t blame the kid if that Ray is the bad guy they’re talking about.” Dakota’s jaw twitched, like he was clenching his teeth tight. He glanced over at the boys, a fierceness in his eyes that looked a lot like protectiveness.
He dug through his pack, keeping his voice low. “But we have to get out of this cave. Soon. The fire is heading right for us.”
“We need to convince Ethan it’s safe to leave.”
“Agreed.” Dakota went back to Ethan. “Let’s get that arm stabilized.” Scout wandered over to the guys and lay at Dakota’s feet while he wrapped Ethan’s arm in a makeshift sling with his bandana.
“Now that we have you two set, we need to get you back to the campground and probably a doctor.” Allie picked up Scout’s rope and stashed it away again.
“I don’t wanna see the bad man.” Nolan buried his face in Dakota’s neck.
“Hey, buddy. It’s okay.” Dakota touched the boy’s head. “I’m gonna keep you safe.”
“That’s right. Dakota was a cop before he was a firefighter.” Allie held Ethan’s backpack out to him. She helped lift the strap over his injured arm and settle it over his shoulders.
“A cop? Did you kill any bad guys?” Nolan asked with wide eyes.
“I saw a lot of bad guys as a cop, and we helped put them in prison so they couldn’t hurt other people. Allie and I will keep you safe too. Even if she wasn’t a police officer.” He winked.
“Are you sure? That man—the bad man—he has a gun.” Ethan looked up at Allie, widened his big blue eyes, and bit down on his lower lip.
“Which man?” Dakota asked.
Neither boy answered. They looked at each other. Ethan gave the slightest shake of his head to his brother. A plea to keep silent?
Allie kneeled by Ethan. “Dakota and I will protect you. But right now there’s a fire coming. This cave isn’t safe, so we need to get back to your mom, okay?”
Ethan studied Dakota standing there, holding his little brother close.
“All right.” He finally nodded. “We’ll go with you, but if that man comes?—”
“We’ll make sure you’re safe.” Dakota offered his hand.
Ethan shook it.
“I believe this belongs to you.” Allie held out what she’d found in the woods to Nolan.
“My hat!”
She plopped it on his head, and they headed toward the entrance. Dakota insisted on continuing to carry Nolan. She wanted to offer to hold Ethan’s hand, but she wasn’t sure the boy would like that. Instead, she offered him an encouraging smile as they stepped out of the cave.
Sparks flew through the air. They climbed the ridge that hid the cave only to see a raging wall of fire eating up the forest floor and swallowing the stately evergreens whole on the next hill. It was heading right toward them.
Not good.
Dakota’s breath caught at the sight of the terror headed for them. An onslaught of fiery flames clambered up the massive trees and slithered along the ground, maybe five hundred yards away. Even here, red-hot embers rained down on them, the blaze so close he could feel the heat.
The fire blocked off their access to the trail behind the ridge. Between the gray smoke hanging in the air and the hot wind pushing the fire along its path, they would have to move fast.
Dakota grabbed his radio and called in to his team, letting them know they’d found the boys.
Kane’s voice crackled over the radio. “You better book it. Fire skirted around the campgrounds but has already engulfed the entrance to the hiking trails. You’re going to have to find another way back. Head north, then you can swing west toward an old logging road or east toward the river.”
“Copy that.” His stomach clenched. “Keep your face covered as much as possible,” Dakota told Nolan as he tucked him tight against his chest. “I’m not going to let you get hurt.”
The boys might not be in a safe home—something he knew a little about, being a son of Buck Masterson?—but now that Dakota was here, he would make sure they were safe and that nothing would harm them. Not even a raging wildfire.
He showed Ethan how to hold his shirt collar up over his nose. Allie did the same.
“Stay right on my side. We move together.” Dakota set a brisk pace through the forest. Hopefully Allie and Ethan could keep up.
“Where are we going?” Allie asked.
“We have to go north, deeper into the forest, and west to hit the old logging road out of here.”
Hopefully.
They jogged farther. Every time Dakota looked uphill, the fire was closer. They all coughed, choking on the thick smoke.
“Come on, guys. We gotta keep moving.” Dakota worked hard to keep his voice steady.
“I can’t breathe.” Ethan’s pace slowed.
“I know it’s hard, but you’re doing great. We can’t stop.” His eyes and throat burned too. Nolan whimpered against his shirt. Scout stayed between Ethan and Allie, encouraging them to keep going. “You got this, bud,” Dakota called to Ethan.
Allie looked over at him, sweat and worry all over her face. “I can’t breathe either.” Her voice wheezed.
Scout circled her, ran ahead, and stopped.
“We’ll get to fresh air as soon as we can. You can do this, Allie.”
She nodded and continued moving downhill. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but the air seemed to clear a little.
“What’s that?” She pointed into the distance.
Between the smoke and trees, a cedar-shake roof emerged. “A cabin? Way out here?” Dakota peered through the haze to get a better view. In a small clearing below them, protected by the ridge they were on, sat an old log cabin with a stone chimney. A pile of freshly cut wood surrounded an old stump, and a tiny, dry creek bed lay off to the side of it.
“I bet we’re not on the public campgrounds anymore.” Allie coughed.
Dakota scanned the little building. “If there’s a cabin, there’s gotta be a road.”
“Maybe we should warn them first? Or maybe there’s a vehicle we can borrow.”
“Someone has been here recently. There’s newly split wood.” He pointed to it. But one look behind him showed the fire had reached the peak and was starting downhill toward them. “We have to keep going.” Dakota transferred Nolan to Allie. “Take the boys, and I’ll scope it out quickly and catch up. Follow the ridge off to the side of the cabin. It should lead to the road—and move as fast as you can!”
Dakota watched them only for a second. Long enough to see that Nolan wasn’t too heavy for her. He climbed off the small ridge of rock, then picked his way over boulders and around ponderosa pines and Douglas firs until he reached the clearing. Finally, he crossed the creek bed and moved toward the cabin. The structure itself looked old—unpainted, logs a weathered gray. Dakota quickly jumped up to the front porch and pounded on the door.
“Hey, there’s a fire. If anyone is home, you need to leave. Now!”
No answer. He checked the windows. Dusty curtains blocked his view. The doors didn’t budge. Didn’t seem like anyone was around at the moment. Maybe they’d obeyed the evacuation order.
A quick orbit around the cabin didn’t reveal any vehicles.
A low rumble sounded from up on the ridge above. Fire chewed up the trees covering the incline and crawled toward him. There was still time, though not much. Dakota sprinted away toward the side of the cabin. He found the dirt road, not much more than a narrow track, leading away from the clearing.
He ran, Allie and the boys not far ahead of him. With the burden of Nolan slowing Allie down, Dakota easily caught up to them. Scout led the pack, galloping full speed ahead.
A glance back showed the fire gaining on them.
“We gotta go faster.” Dakota scooped up Ethan and jogged along Allie’s side. They huffed as they ran down the rutted tracks of an old trail. It was barely a road but easier than slapping tree branches and jumping over roots and boulders. The stinging eyes and throat didn’t help, but Dakota sprinted on.
“The trail forks. Which way do we go?” Allie asked.
“This way.” It was away from the campground, but also going farther from the fire.
“How long has it been?” Allie huffed.
“Only ten or fifteen minutes since I caught up to you.”
She stumbled to a stop and set Nolan on his feet. She bent over her knees, sucking in deep breaths.
“I just”—breath—“need”—breath—“a minute,” her voice rasped.
Dakota set Ethan down too and grabbed water from his pack. “Quick, drink this, then we have to go.”
He kept the boys from looking behind them, but Allie’s eyes widened as she glanced back. She gulped her water and leaned closer to him.
“The fire is gaining. It’s going to reach us before we—” She looked down at the boys and clamped her mouth shut.
“I know.” He dropped his voice low. “We need a miracle.”
Not that he had any right to ask for one. But he was different now. He’d done everything he could to keep Allie and the boys safe. He’d seen God come through in the most unlikely of circumstances. A fight with his own brother to bring him to the place of accepting the help he’d desperately needed. A ride from a complete stranger to get him where he’d needed to go. So why not now?
Faith wasn’t a guarantee that God would do what Dakota thought best, but they’d need Him if they were going to save these boys.
So, we could really use some help right about now, Lord .
Allie finished her water but started coughing. She couldn’t catch her breath. No way could she keep carrying Nolan and move as fast as they needed to.
Looking down at Ethan, Dakota laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Can you run?”
The boy nodded.
“Good.” He held his hands out, and Nolan quickly jumped into his arms. “Come on, Allie. We have to go.”
She coughed but nodded. Scout took off in a flash, running full speed ahead of them. They lost sight of him in the black smoke.
“Scout!” Allie yelled.
They sprinted after him. Behind them, the fire was a locomotive barreling toward them, torching the trees, flames exploding off the tops. Fire dripped down around them, igniting the pine needles lining their path.
Allie started to scream, even as she ran.
And inside, he was screaming too.